Nascence
by Vashagud
Summary: The things madmen do when they think they have nothing. Genesis/Sephiroth


It was a Tuesday after treatments when they were standing outside the dark labs and Genesis could feel the heat of his own face even through his gloves. He could hear Sephiroth breathing beside him, and feel the world around him so keenly he could almost feel it spinning. It was a marvelous thing.

"We could have the world if we wanted it." he said as Sephiroth stepped out into the cold rain, a blazing ball of heat that Genesis could feel even from where he stood.

"_You_ can have it, if you want it." was his reply, a fierce denial of the world that had made him a hero. And in that moment, Genesis hated him for not realizing what a wonderful thing it was. And he hated the world, for having chosen him anyway.

It was a Thursday when Genesis reached forward and gathered some of that silver into his hands.

Sephiroth only turned his head around to look at the window, sighing as if he'd seen it coming all along. Genesis looked from the hair to the eyes, from the hair to the eyes, and smiled against the nausea he felt. So beautiful, he was _so beautiful._ His breath stopped with it, all that power and beauty in the hands of a man who didn't even _want it. _

"What is it like..." he breathed, hair slipping through his fingers. "To have all this..." He was at a loss for words, and not a book that he had read could aid him. Sephiroth caught his hand and snatched him forward until they were chest to chest. He looked as sickened and Genesis felt, and lowered the caught hand to the hard metal of his belt buckle.

"Is that what you want?" he asked, and Genesis smiled not at his face but at the shine of his hair. And in the cast of that glimmer, he said... _yes. _

"Then you can have it."

And on a Sunday he realized that it wasn't enough. The dreams of a compliant world brought him closer, his name in Sephiroth's mouth closer still, but it wasn't enough. And so when they all fought that day in the training room and he watched Sephiroth tear the Junon canons to ribbons, humoring him like he always did, something shifted.

Because he deserved to be a hero, and he would show Sephiroth that it was true. He would show Sephiroth that he could have it if he wanted it, not because it had been offered to him in the form of a desperate tangle of limbs in the dark, or patient words to quiet him. He was a hero. And he could tell that Sephiroth, the smug and undeserving hero, didn't understand at all. But for all his ignorance, he was full of grace and the world was on his side.

Genesis hadn't seen it coming until his shoulder was being ripped open, and he was suddenly smelling his own blood. It was more than a scratch, and even the simulation had crashed around them, but it wasn't going to be enough. Sephiroth looked like he was sorry, but he wondered if that was just another placation. It was clear to him that while he didn't care for being a hero, he believed no one would be able to take it away from him.

And on a Wednesday night, Genesis told him that he was wrong. But Sephiroth only stood there, in the doorway looking like he'd expected this as well.

"I'm going to show the world what a hero is." He said, eyes locked on his. "I going to be more, than even you." Sephiroth looked away at that.

"If that's what you want, you can-"

"Don't." He said and Sephiroth turned back to look at him. "I know what I want and I-"

"No you don't. If you knew, you wouldn't want it." Sephiroth straightened. "Come in and calm down."

"So we can…" he laughed. "calm down together? No, I don 't want it Sephiroth. Why don't you stop the charade, tell me what I already know." Sephiroth frowned.

"Have you gone mad?" Genesis laughed.

"Sure. I'm mad because I've realized that I can't have anything. I have nothing Sephiroth." Genesis smiled. "And what do you do when you have nothing?" Sephiroth didn't say anything. "You take everything, Sephiroth. And the ones who realize that are the heroes." Sephiroth only stared at him for a few silent seconds. Then he turned on his heel and started back into his apartment but stopped, his back to Genesis, a tired dark shape in the doorway.

"No, they're monsters."

And when the door closed, Genesis wondered why he couldn't be both.

Author's Note : So I wanted to have a go at writing Genesis, because I really don't know if I get his character, and I thought I could also try out this pairing which I feel is interesting since one is so self-absorbed while the other is so jaded. XD Yeah, I had fun playing around, and I hope that it was as interesting to read as it was for me to speculate.


End file.
